As we sail into the end of 2022, I still can't believe that I am a DPhil student at Oxford University in England studying Psychiatry.  I have come a long way from my early career days of being a school teacher and counsellor. These days, I spend time working with a research team on the concept of ACE's (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and the use of digital and art based interventions to support young people. These play based approaches aim to address gaps in knowledge and will do so by placing young people at the centre of learning and action. The project I am involved in, draws in diverse disciplines to work together in new ways, spanning the arts, psychology, psychiatry and digital health. 

That being said there is a common thread that has emerged and that is the concept of 'play'. I have been left asking questions "What is play?" "Why is play the language of childhood?"  "What happens when children can't play?" "Is play the pathway to therapeutic...

When I did my Masters Degree in Clinical Child Psychology

It was gruelling.
It was exhilarating.
It was exhausting.
It was uplifting.

Being accepted into pretty much unrelated degree to my Bachelor of Education Honours degree based only on my experience was an adventure of note!

I did tons of assignments from ADHD to Autism to Bipolar and more….from Trauma to Social Support….child abuse to suicide. I learnt the intricacies of brain development and neurodevelopmental disorders.I read research papers and attended lectures that left me full of new insights.

As a Psychiatry researcher at Oxford University, I have found ample evidence that labels are for things and not for kids!  I have learnt through the evidence, that a lot of children are misdiagnosed and incorrectly supported. I learnt that “testing” and “medicating” (as I have always believed) is not always the answer as many times complex trauma caused by adverse childhood experiences...

This past week, I have had the privilege of spending time with certified Kids Life Studio coaches in my hometown of Lymington! They flew in from the USA and Belgium to join me for our Press Pause and Play Retreat 2022! Hosted in the beautiful New Forest in Lymington, England, we did everything from riding bicycles and taking selfies with ponies to doing water obstacle courses and visiting stone henge.

It was truly amazing to see the collaboration and connection that happened in only one week! These lovely team zealers managed to not only connect to each other but they connected to their own inner child as they took the time to walk the walk and talk the talk. Since play based coaching requires us to play, it is important to take time out to connect with nature and with our inner selves and we did all of that and more!

It is hard to stay positive and on track when faced with the daily pressures of life. I love how these participants made an effort to invest into their own mental,...

Every week on a Thursday my students and certified coaches from around the world gather in a zoom room with me leading them in a peer to peer supervision session. This is one of the things we love to do at The Kids Life Studio Global Network

We value being lifelong learners and discussing our client progress, challenges or opportunities with each other.

Our topic changes each week and recently, our topic was technology addiction. I was super excited about this one as we are seeing such an upswing in this problem in young children. The Kids Life Studio has coaches in over 42 countries and there isn’t one country that is immune to this!!

We all need to be part of the solution as secret parents by staying informed and providing children with a road map for safe tech use. Technology can be good….when managed and when parents role model good habits!!  t starts with us walking the walk and talking the talk as Secret Parents so that we can rebrand childhood for...

In 2003 I started developing a play based coaching model for children that educates, motivates and inspires children to become the leaders of their own lives.

In my research I soon realised that Maslows motivation theory had dire outcomes for children since there was so much existential threat relating to life!

Watching a video from a leading psychiatrist reminded me that Maslows theory certainly has merit but I have adapted it to be more relevant to todays culture and environmental context.

All students who go through my Kids Life Coach training through The Kids Life Coach Academy learn how to flip this model to consider a child’s wants and needs.

This enables us to see potential rather than deficit and allows us to enable a child’s labels in a positive way!

Want to join our team. Let me know. Happy to answer your questions.

Regards with zeal,

Zelna Lauwrens

Founder Kids Life Studio and Kids Life Coach Academy

When I first started building and developing my proprietary Play Based Coaching® System (PBC) in 2003, I intuitively knew that children had to be at the centre of the intervention. So I created a system that "speaks" childhood play fluently and taps into potential in a non invasive way.

At the time, I didn't call it Play Based Coaching®, but as time progressed, and I found myself using the name more and more, I decided to formalise it and today this evidence informed approach is being used in 40 countries across multiple cultures, religions and demographics. 

This Play Based Coaching® System (PBC) works...

Why?

Because EVERY child has the same needs and those needs are simple...One of the things I teach in my Level 2 training is 'Choice Theory' which is based on the simple concept that every individual only has the power to control themselves and has limited power to control others. Applying Choice Theory allows children to take responsibility for...

Every week, our global network of world-class Kids Life Coaches are provided with bi-weekly group mentorship sessions. We get together on our Teaching Tuesdays and Thinking Thursdays to discuss case studies, come up with new coaching ideas, strategise on how to get the word out  but most of all to ask great questions about how to better serve our clients. 

One of the questions we have been tackling recently is the difference between parent coaching and kids life coaching. So let me get one thing clear. I am not a parent - this was not through choice. So I am not a 'parenting expert' by any stretch of the imagination.  However, as the founder of The Kids Life Studio® and Kids Life Coach Academy School, my background started as an early career teacher, then a school counsellor, and then a university lecturer in Behavioural studies. I also have a Masters degree in clinical child psychology yet I still call myself a Kids Life coach. 

Why?

Well, because my Play...

Since moving to England in 2014 from our beloved country of birth….South Africa….a lot has happened!

We have moved numerous times…

living with my husbands family in Chelmsford and being close to my beautiful nieces when they were little. During this time my husband was away working and I also lived with my cousin and friends!

then moving to Twickenham in London for two years and experiencing the World Cup Rugbyin 2015. At the time we lived 10 minutes walk from the stadium and experienced every game live until the semi-final when SA lost. I didn’t have a car and rode my bicycle everywhere. My first bicycle ever with gears and I rode the London to Windsor cycle race in 2016! I launched my (then) new Kids Life Coach Academy online school here too!

Then off to the beautiful countryside to experience rural English life. Living just outside of Cambridge on a farm for 4 years 2017-2021. I had chickens - all with names! I rode horses for a bit. Grew vegetables and...